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Saturday, May 28, 2011

A Bangkok Hangover

On Friday after work, I went to see The Hangover, Part II. Not that I was overly excited to see this sequel. I thought the first movie was okay. Sure, there were some big laughs that appeals to the raunchy sense of humour most guys have (myself included), but I thought the first film was overrated. I'm still stunned that it made over $400 million, setting the record as the most successful comedy of all time. Really? That film broke records? I can watch 9 to 5, even though I've seen it plenty of times, and still laugh at the same jokes in the movie. Now that's a classic that never gets old. I've only seen The Hangover once and that was enough for me. I'm certain that repeated viewings won't be any funnier.

So, why see the sequel, then? Well, these crazy film producers just had to film the sequel in Thailand. There aren't a lot of movies filmed in Thailand and I really want to see one. I love the exotic locales in movies, which is a big reason why I love foreign movies, because I get a glimpse into lives of people in other countries (without the distraction of a famous face playing some character). I saw a Thai film earlier this year (Uncle Boonme Who Can Recall His Past Lives) that was strange and ultimately disappointing. When I learned that the dudes (The "Wolfpack") of The Hangover were going to Thailand for the sequel, I decided that I would go see this one, even though I'm not expecting much out of it other than the same movie as the first one, with a Thai twist.

The movie essentially is The Hangover in a new locale. Instead of a tiger, there's a monkey. Instead of a baby, there's an old Buddhist man in a wheelchair who made a vow of silence. Instead of a missing tooth, Stu has a Mike Tyson-esque face tattoo. There's a wedding (Stu is getting married to a Thai lady at a resort in southern Thailand). There's a knock-out drug that causes the guys to wake up hours later clueless about what happened the previous night. Someone is missing and the wedding is a day away. Strangely, though, the groom from the first movie (played by Justin Bartha) is not in on the adventure this time (last time, he was the missing person in Las Vegas). He gets to hang out with his wife and the wedding party at the resort while his buddies are trying to figure out how they ended up in Bangkok. The sequel follows the same formula as the original. There is a slight twist, though. But as I noticed with the audience, the laughs weren't as many or as gut-busting as the original film was (this is one reason why I wanted to see the movie with an audience rather than wait to see it on DVD).

Though I would not give this movie high marks, I did like seeing Bangkok in all its glory. The best scene was a breakfast scene at the top of a skyscraper's outdoor patio. Man, if such a building exists, that would be a great place to have a wedding! The architecture is amazing and so is the view! Like the original film, the Asian dude with the strange accent and mannerisms stole the movie, hands down. He made the movie funnier than it otherwise would have been. I felt sorry for the monkey, though. Someone should really call PETA for what they made the monkey do in the movie. Seriously.

While I expect the movie to have a strong opening weekend, I think it will suffer a huge drop in the second week. It may be lucky to make it to $200 million, but that's all I would expect it to make. Some of the jokes / situations were just too off the wall absurd. The original film had the advantage of feeling unique, because there was never a film quite like it. That made it feel fresh and many people gave that movie great word of mouth. Since people who will see the sequel likely saw the original film, its going to feel very, "been there, done that." Instead of trying to be more original, they stuck with the same plot / formula and figured that just setting the movie in Bangkok would give it enough of a different flavour from the first film to satisfy filmgoers. Unfortunately, it doesn't work. They should have taken notes from the remake The Karate Kid, which shows exactly how you can film the same movie as the original, but make it feel just different enough to stand strong on its own.

Another thing I wish the people who made this film would've done is commission an update of a classic 80s song, "One Night in Bangkok." I love this song, especially the melody and chorus line. This song would make an excellent hip hop / rap song, similar to the way Warren G updated the classic Tina Turner song "What's Love Got to Do With It" or classic Michael McDonald song "I Keep Forgettin'" (into "Regulate"). That would make an excellent theme song to this recycled drink in a new shotglass. After you see this sequel, getting wasted so you don't have to remember it might be considered a great idea! Let's hope they don't make a threequel. There's no one left to marry...except Allen, the creepiest member of The Wolfpack.

Sansego

A word I created from the French word Sans (meaning "without") and the English word ego. Basically, that sums up my spiritual beliefs. To be closer to God, we must transcend our egos and recognize we are all "one in the spirit."

My 7 Favourite Films of 2007

Gorgeous!

My Hot List (of Dream Women)

1. Audrey Tautou

2. Emily Blunt

3. Frances O'Connor

4. Thandie Newton

5. Natalie Portman

6. Shannyn Sossamon

7. Michelle Yeoh

8. Gwen Stefani

9. Zoe Saldana

10. Halle Berry

Nonconformists of the Year

The following photos represent my selection for Nonconformist of the Year, that I started doing in 1992 to honour the person who did an unexpected act, which went against the grain of conventional thinking.

1992

Bill Clinton

1993

Al Gore

1994

Nelson Mandela

1995

Lady Diana Spencer

1996

John F. Kennedy, Jr.

1997

Louis Freeh

1998

Russ Feingold

1999

Jesse Ventura

2000

John McCain

2001

Bill Maher

2002

Dave Eggers

2003

Howard Dean

2004

Joseph Darby

2005

Cindy Sheehan

2006

Al Gore

2007

Buddhist Monks of Burma

2008

Barack Obama

2009

Alicia Silverstone

2010

Julian Assange

2011

Mohamed Bouazizi

Best descriptions of GWB

1. He's a corporation masquerading as a human being -- Ralph Nader

2. He's a blind man in a room full of deaf people -- Paul O'Neill

3. Poor George...born on third and thought he hit a triple -- Ann Richards

4. You could easily imagine him owning the local car dealership down the road -- Barack Obama

5. Bush is the worst president ever...He is the worst president in American history -- Helen Thomas

Favourite Presidents

1. Thomas Jefferson

2. John Fitzgerald Kennedy

3. Abraham Lincoln

4. George Washington

5. Franklin Delano Roosevelt

Worst Presidents Ever

1. George W. Bush

2. Richard M. Nixon

3. Lyndon B. Johnson

4. Ronald W. Reagan

5. Warren G. Harding

Cool words I love

Kundalini

Shosoloza

Zenani

Serendipity

Psychokinesis

Recommended CDs by my favourite Irish musicians

1. All That You Can't Leave Behind -- U2

2. A Day Without Rain -- Enya

3. The Bells of Dublin -- The Chieftains

4. I Do Not Want What I Haven't Got -- Sinead O'Connor

5. Herding Cats -- Gaelic Storm

My All Time Favourite Music Videos

1. Nothing Compares 2 U -- Sinead O'Connor

2. Coldhearted -- Paula Abdul

3. Smoke -- Natalie Imbruglia

4. Stay -- Lisa Loeb

5. Soak Up The Sun -- Sheryl Crow

All Time Favourite Films

1. The Sound of Music

2. The Star Wars Saga

3. Dead Poet's Society

4. Casualties of War

5. Love and Other Catastrophes

6. E.T.

7. Forrest Gump

8. Jurassic Park

9. Sarafina!

10. Roxanne

All Time Favourite Albums

1. Cruel, Crazy, Beautiful World -- Johnny Clegg and Savuka

2. Earth and Sun and Moon -- Midnight Oil

3. All That You Can't Leave Behind -- U2

4. Le Baiser -- Indochine

5. Wommat (The Guide) -- Youssou N'Dour

6. Born in the USA -- Bruce Springsteen

7. Tracy Chapman -- Tracy Chapman

8. Graceland -- Paul Simon

9. The Rising -- Bruce Springsteen

10. Autoamerican -- Blondie

11. Pilgrim -- Eric Clapton

12. Thriller -- Michael Jackson

13. Crazy Sexy Cool -- TLC

14. True Blue -- Madonna

15. Whitney -- Whitney Houston

All Time Favourite Songs

1. What A Wonderful World -- Louis Armstrong

2. Sailing -- Christopher Cross

3. A Better Man -- Keb' Mo'

4. Woman Be My Country -- Johnny Clegg and Savuka

5. Time After Time -- Cyndi Lauper

6. Woman -- John Lennon

7. Man In the Mirror -- Michael Jackson

8. Hey Jude -- The Beatles

9. Imagine -- John Lennon

10. Stairway to Heaven -- Led Zepplin

My 6 Fave Songs of 2006

1. Do I Make You Proud? -- Taylor Hicks

2. Unwritten -- Natasha Bedingfield

3. Jump -- Madonna

4. Waiting on the World to Change -- John Mayer

5. Bad Day -- Daniel Powter

6. What's Left of Me -- Nick Lachey

My 6 Fave Films of 2006

1. An Inconvenient Truth

2. The Da Vinci Code

3. Blood Diamond

4. V For Vendetta

5. The Devil Wears Prada

6. Casino Royale

Three Worst Films of 2006

1. Borat

2. Basic Instinct 2

3. Children of Men

Favourite Madonna Singles

1. Live to Tell

2. Vogue

3. What it Feels Like For a Girl

4. Jump

5. Who's that Girl

6. Into the Groove

7. Angel

8. This Used to Be My Playground

9. Holiday

10. Die Another Day

Favourite Madonna Albums

1. True Blue (1986)

2. Like a Prayer (1989)

3. Confessions on a Dance Floor (2005)

4. American Life (2003)

5. Bedtime Stories (1994)

6. Madonna (1983)

7. Music (2001)

8. Ray of Light (1998)

9. Like A Virgin (1984)

10. Erotica (1992)

Favourite Madonna Music Videos

1. Vogue

2. Material Girl

3. Into the Groove

4. Papa Don't Preach

5. La Isla Bonita

6. Human Nature

7. Take A Bow

8. Nothing Really Matters

9. Rain

10. Beautiful Stranger

Personal Timeline

Dec 1971 -- Born;1977 -- "Star Wars" craze begins!;1978 -- Wendy is my first crush, setting a pattern of me falling for girls I find more intelligent than myself;1980 -- Sharon Dunn becomes my first penpal when I move to Utah;Dec 1980 -- Baptized into RLDS Church;1984 -- Meet Nicholas Smith in 7th grade, who becomes one of my best friends;1985-1988 -- Lived in Germany;1988 -- Acted in two plays, "Our Town" and "You Can't Take It With You.";Summer 1989 -- Wrote "Diabolic Incognito" for a Young Novelist competition;November 1989 -- Inspired with story idea for next novel;June 1990 -- Graduated high school, then enlisted in the Navy;January 1991 -- First solo trip via Greyhound to visit my best friend in Omaha and my grandparents in Kansas;March 1991 -- Went off to Basic Training;September 1991 -- Arrived in Italy for my 3 year assignment;October 1992 -- My first Eurail trip;April 1993 -- An odd coincidence brings me back to God;August 1994 -- My trip to South Africa becomes my most significant spiritual experience;November 1994 -- Meet my other best friend, Nathan Hagman;January 1996 -- Honorable Discharge from the Navy;May 1996 -- Car is totalled in an accident;August 1997 -- Start my college career at BYU;April-May 1999 -- Road trip to Pacific Northwest makes a huge impression on me that this is where I want to settle someday;January-April 2000 -- Internship with Vice President Gore;December 2004 -- Finished writing second novel "Seasons of Silent War" (still haven't found an agent for it);August 2006 -- Move to Portland, Oregon--finally!!;December 2006 -- Finished my long-delayed Bachelor's Degree in International Politics